Gaining momentum - Results of the 2021 BIS survey on central bank digital currencies - 0 views
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John Kiff on 06 May 2290% of the 81 central banks surveyed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) are exploring central bank digital currency (CBDC). Compared with last year's survey, the share of central banks currently developing a CBDC or running a pilot almost doubled from 14% to 26%, and 62% are conducting experiments or proofs-of-concept. The results show that the work on retail CBDCs is at a more advanced stage than the work on wholesale CBDCs. Almost one fifth of central banks are developing or testing a retail CBDC, which is twice the share of central banks building or piloting a wholesale CBDC, which is increasingly driven by reasons related to cross-border payments efficiency. 68% of the surveyed central banks consider that they are likely to or might possibly issue a retail CBDC in either the short or medium term.